Efforts to Combat Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid

Medicare and Medicaid programs function as open-ended entitlements. This arrangement makes distinguishing outright scams from aggressive billing practices challenging.

On June 4, 2026, U.S. Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz addressed these issues. Vice President JD Vance joined him at a press conference on May 13, 2026, to discuss new “anti-fraud initiatives” aimed at tackling these problems. The session was covered by Reuters with a photograph by Evelyn Hockstein.

City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute, focuses on urban policy. It reports on the Trump administration’s activity regarding Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz emphasized that the federal government is actively targeting healthcare fraudsters to safeguard American families and patients.

According to Oz, Medicaid alone faces approximately $100 billion in fraud annually. In a recent action, his agency closed 800 hospices in Los Angeles. These facilities allegedly provided fake services, receiving payments of $1.4 billion last year.